1

SarahStaley
Periods4&5
12/8/15

FinalArgumentEssay:GermlineModification
Ifachildhasafatalblooddiseaseoramutationintheirgeneswouldntitbebestfor
thechildifthegenewasmodifiedinordertosavetheirlife?Imagineaworldwherelife
threateningdiseasescouldbeavoidedbymodifyingachildsgenesbeforetheywereborn.
Thinkaboutthenumberoflivesthatcouldbesavedandtheamountofmedicaladvances
thatwouldarise.ScientistsintheUnitedKingdomandChinaareusinggermline
enhancementsonhumanembryostotestthisquestion.Germlinemodificationisthe
changingorengineeringofgenesinazygote,acellintheearlieststagesofdevelopment.
Unlikesomaticmodification,germlineishereditary,meaninganyalteredgenescouldbe
passeddowntofutureoffspring.ScientistsusetechnologylikeClusteredRegularly
InterspacedShortPalindromicRepeats(CRISPR)tofightgeneticdiseasesandreplace
missingproteinsthatwouldhaveledtoharmfulmutations.Germlinemodificationshould
beallowedwithsomerestrictionsbecause1)itfulfillsthetelosofscience2)itmaximizes
happinessbyhelpingwithmedicaladvances3)anddespitetherisksweshouldpursue
germlinemodificationbecausethebenefitscouldoutweighthecosts.
Firstoff,Germlinemodificationfulfillsthetelosofscienceandmedicalresearch.
Teleologicalthinkingisthebeliefthatfulfillingthetelos,orpurpose,ofsomethingisthe
rightthingtodo.Theknife'spurpose,orreasonforexisting,istocutthings.1(Clayton,
Aristotle).Likeaknife,everythinghasapurpose,includingscienceandmedicine.Some
maysaythattherearedifferentopinionsonthetelosofscience,buttheprimaryattributes
InternetEncylopediaofPhilosophyAristotle:Politicsh
ttp://www.iep.utm.edu/arispol/#H5byEdward
Clayton
1

ofitstelos,thatstaythesame,aretoexperiment,learn,andtestnewthings.Bymodifying
genesandusinggermlinemodification,scientistsaretestingoutnewtechnologyand
learninghowtochangegenesthatcouldsavemanylives.Ashumanswenaturallyadapt
andchangeinordertosurvive.Byfulfillingthepurposeofscienceandexperimentation,
humanscanadaptandchangeinordertoevolveandgrow.
Throughsavingmanylivesandfulfillingthetelosofscience,themajoritys
happinessismaximized.Thehighestprincipleofmoralityistomaximizehappiness,the
overallbalanceofpleasureoverpain.(Sandel,Utilitarianism34).Humansnaturallyprefer
pleasureoverpain,andbymaximizingoverallhappinessthemajoritygainspleasure.Using
germlineenhancement,wecansavemanylives,maximizingthelifeofthechildaswellas
thehappinessofthemajority.Somecountries,likeChina,havealreadyusedgermline
enhancement.Scientists[fromSunYatsenUniversity]confirmedtheyhadengineered
embryostomodifythegeneresponsibleforthefatalblooddisorderthalassaemia.2
(Knapton,China).Modifyinggenesforthalassaemiacouldsavethelivesofmanypeople
affectedwiththisdiseaseandmaximizeoverallhappinessforthepeoplearoundthem.
Criticsofthistechnologyhavebroughtupthatalongwithgermlineediting,
scientistscouldpotentiallytrytomasternatureandcontrolourtraitsandcharacteristics.
ThedeeperdangeristhattheyrepresentakindofhyperagencyaPrometheanaspiration
toremakenature.Theproblemisnotthedrifttomechanismbutthedrivetomastery.
(Sandel,Case23).Criticsworrythathumanswillgotoofarandtrytomastergenetic

Chinashocksworldbygeneticallyengineeringhumanembryosb
y:SarahKnapton
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11558305/Chinashocksworldbygeneticallyengineeringhum
anembryos.htmlApril23,2015

engineering.Manyunintendedconsequencescanarise.Forexample,Dr.Frankenstein
desiredtomasterlifeanddeathbutinsteadcreatedamonster.However,despitetherisks
germlineeditingshouldbepursued.Thebenefitsofadvancingmedicallyandsavingmany
livescouldoutweighthecostsfrommutationsandproblemsthatcomewiththe
technology.
Allthingsconsidered,germlinemodificationshouldbeallowedbecauseitfulfillsthe
purposeofsciencebyexperimenting,maximizeshappinessbysavinglives,andtheoverall
benefitscouldoutweighthecosts.Althoughitshouldbeallowed,somerestrictionsshould
beputintoplacetoensurethatitdoesnotgetoutofcontrol.Germlineenhancementshould
onlybeusedformedicalpurposestosavelives.Itshouldnotbeusedtochangephysical
characteristicslikeheightoreyecolorbecauseparentsshouldntchangeachild'straitsfor
theirownpurposes.Germlineenhancementcansavemanylives,anddespitethepossible
consequencesweshouldnotstopsomethingthatcouldgreatlybenefitus.AsEdwardTeller
oncesaid,Thescienceoftodayisthetechnologyoftomorrow.

FinalArgumentEssayOutline
Intro:

Hook:Putreaderinsomeoneelsesshoes
Context:
Whatgermlinemodificationis
PastCasestudies/germlinemodifications
Claim:Germlinemodificationshouldbeallowedwithsomerestrictionsbecause
1. SupportingClaim1:Itfulfillsthetelosofscience.
2. SupportingClaim2:Itmaximizeshappinessbyhelpingwithmedicaladvances.
3. SupportingClaim3:CounterClaim:Unintendedconsequences(Cancer/Mutations).
Response:Justbecausetherearerisks,itdoesnotmeantherewillnotbebenifits.
Conclusion:
Restrictions:
Germlinemodificationshouldonlybepermittedformedicalandtherapeutic
purposes.
Itshouldneverbeusedtochangedheight,eyecolororanyotherphysical
characteristictosuittheparentsdesires.
Itshouldneverbeperformedbeforethefertilizedcellbecomesanembryo
andisonlypermittedwhenthatpotentiallifeisinthefirststepof
fertilization.
Connectbacktoclaim&restateargument.